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Dec 13 You Can Now Get Student Loan Repayment Gift Cards for Christmas

Angela Colley

Not sure what to put on your Christmas wish list now that Nordstrom’s classy leather-wrapped stone is sold out? How about a gift card to pay off your student loan debts?

Yup, those are a thing now.

The gift cards are the brainchild of Gift of College, a website that helps parents and relatives both fund a college savings plan and pay off student loans through direct payments to 529 plans or loan servicers.

Available at Toys R Us no less, gift cards are available in increments of $25, $50 and variable amounts up to $500, according to MarketWatch. And sure, you’d need 744 relatives ponying up $50 a pop in gift cards to pay off the average $37,172 debt load college seniors graduated with in 2016, but hey, every little bit helps right?

And on an individual gift level, these cards may offer more than just small bills. As Wayne Weber, CEO of Gift of College, told MarketWatch, the gift cards are inspiring some significant giving:

“The gift cards have been available at Toys R Us for a few months and so far, the company is happy with the results, said Wayne Weber, Gift of College’s chief executive, though he declined to release sales figures. The average balance on the card is more than $200, he said, compared with the average gift card balance of $46, according to the National Retail Federation.”

Gifts cards aren’t the only way your friends and family can help pay off your student loans. Gift of College accepts payments directly on their website. Other sites like LoanGifting (temporarily on hiatus until 2017) offer the same thing. And of course, you can always head to crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe or Generosity, the personal needs division of IndieGoGo. But for technologically un-savvy relatives, gift cards might be the easiest way of giving the gift of (slightly more) financial freedom.

Angela Colley's work has appeared on TheStreet, Huffington Post, MSN, Yahoo, and many other outlets. She's also on Twitter @angelancolley, where she shares pictures of her dogs and debates the best Simpsons meme.

Angela Colley's work has appeared on TheStreet, Huffington Post, MSN, Yahoo, and many other outlets. She's also on Twitter @angelancolley, where she shares pictures of her dogs and debates the best Simpsons meme.

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